Personal Finance

Monday, 9 March 2015

How and Where to Open Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) Account

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account can be opened in any post office or designated branches of PSU banks with a minimum investment of Rs 1,000. Few private banks are also authorised to open SSY account. There was a circular issued by RBI which provides the list of all the banks authorised to open SSY account.

List of Public Sector Banks

Allahabad Bank
Andhra Bank
Bank of Baroda
Bank of India
Bank of Maharashtra
Canara Bank
Central Bank of India
Corporation Bank
Dena Bank
IDBI Bank
Indian Bank
Indian Overseas Bank
Oriental Bank of Commerce
Punjab National Bank
Punjab & Sind Bank
State Bank of India
State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur
State Bank of Hyderabad
State Bank of Mysore
State Bank of Patiala
State Bank of Travancore
Syndicate Bank
UCO Bank
Union Bank of India
United Bank of India
Vijaya Bank

List of Private Sector Banks

Axis Bank Ltd.
HDFC Bank
ICICI Bank Ltd.

Who can open/operate SSY Account

The account shall be opened and operated by the natural or legal guardian of a girl child, till the girl child in whose name the account has been opened, attains the age of ten years.

On attaining age of ten years, the account holder (girl child) may herself operate the account. However, deposit in the account may be made by the guardian or any other person or authority.

Refer Eligibility For Opening a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) Account to check the eligibility criteria for opening SSY account.

Document required for opening an account

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account opening form.
Birth Certificate of the girl child.
Identity proof of the guardian.
Address proof of the guardian.

Passbook

On opening an account, the depositor shall be given a pass book bearing the date of birth of the girl child, date of opening of account, account number, name and address of the account holder and the amount deposited.

The pass book shall be presented to the post office or bank at the time of depositing money in the Sukanya Samriddhi Account and also at the time of final closure of the account on maturity.

Best time to open a SSY account

The ideal age when the Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSY) should be opened for a girl child is before the child completes 1 year. Since Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana has been started as part of "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign, it is clear that the primary aim of this scheme is investment in a girl's higher studies.
The duration of SSY is 21 years from the date of opening the account. There is also an option to withdraw partially; up to 50% of the amount only after the girl child attains the age of 18.

It gives a clear indication that the idea is to support higher education and then marriage of the girl child.

Refer Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) Account Duration to know the duration related rules for the SSY account.
Refer Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSY) Pre-Mature Closure And Partial Withdrawal Rules to know about the partial withdrawal rules.

If we go by the common schooling pattern in India, where kids start going to a school at the age of 3, starting with 3 years of kindergarten followed by 12 years of schooling it makes 18 years when they can start for higher studies. Thus, having a restriction to partially withdraw money only after girl child completes 18 makes sense.
Again, if we go by the current marriage trends as depicted by the 2011 census - 92% of women were married by the time they reached 25 years of age (Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Census-2011-data-In-33-marriages-women-werent-18/articleshow/46790489.cms). Thus maturity of SSY after 21 years makes sense too.

Points to note -

One account per girl child is allowed. A parent can open maximum 2 accounts for 2 daughters.
The account may be opened with an initial deposit of one thousand rupees.
If minimum Rs 1000/- is not deposited in a financial year, account will become discontinued.
Deposits in an account may be made till completion of fourteen years, from the date of opening of the account.

That's all for this topic How and Where to Open Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) Account. If you have any doubt or any suggestions to make please drop a comment. Thanks!

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Know About Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was launched in January, 2015 as part of the Prime Minister's Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative. SSY account can only be opened for a girl child with a primary aim to provide for the higher education and marriage expenses of a girl child.

Amount invested in SSY can be claimed for deduction under section 80C upto the maximum exemption limit of Rs. 1,50,000. Which means one can invest maximum Rs. 1,50,000 in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana with in a financial year.

In the budget 2015-16 FM proposed to make the income from the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana scheme tax free i.e. interest earned and the maturity amount would not be taxed. Thus Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana becomes another EEE saving scheme just like PPF.

There are certain rules for opening and operating SSY account, follwoing links gives information about those rules. So lets view different scenarios -

Saturday, 7 March 2015

Where Can I Open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) Account

The PPF or Public Provident Fund is one of the most popular long-term investment options offered by the Central Government for Indian residents. PPF account can be opened in almost any PSU bank, though not all branches provide the facility so please check beforehand.

Few private banks are also authorized to open a PPF account and of course PPF account can be opened in any post office.

List of PSU banks offering PPF account

Bank Name	PPF Form download URL
Allahabad Bank	https://www.allahabadbank.in/pdf/PPF%20Account%20Opening%20FORM%20A.pdf
Andhra Bank	http://andhrabank.in/Download/Forms/PPF_ACOPEN.pdf
Bank of Baroda	http://www.bankofbaroda.co.in/forms.asp
Bank of India	http://www.bankofindia.co.in/UserFiles/File/PPF_Form_A_ Account_Opening_Form.pdf
Bank of Maharashtra	http://www.bankofmaharashtra.in/downloads.asp
Canara Bank	http://www.canarabank.com/Upload/English/Content/FORM-A_%20%28PPF%20OPENING%29%281%29.pdf
Central Bank of India	https://www.centralbankofindia.co.in/Site/downloadforms _des.aspx?downloadforms_id=1
Corporation Bank	http://www.corpbank.com/node/58945
Dena Bank	http://www.denabank.com/viewsection.jsp?lang=0&id=0,9,513
IDBI Bank	http://www.idbi.com/pdf/corporate-apply-now/Govt-Business/GB_PPF_FORM_A.pdf
Indian Overseas Bank	http://www.iob.in/Public_Provident_Scheme.aspx
Punjab National Bank	https://www.pnbindia.in/new/Upload/En/ PPF_Application_Form.pdf
State Bank of India	https://retail.onlinesbi.com/sbi/downloads/PPF/FORM-A_%20%28PPF%20OPENING%29.pdf
State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur	https://www.sbbjbank.com/We-offer/Government-Business1.htm
State Bank of Mysore	http://www.statebankofmysore.co.in/deposits/242.html
State Bank of Travancore	http://www.statebankoftravancore.com/portal/forms1
Syndicate Bank	http://www.syndicatebank.in/scripts/ otherproductsandservices.aspx
UCO Bank	https://www.ucobank.com/other-services/ppf-schemes.aspx
Union Bank of India	http://www.unionbankofindia.co.in/ personal_govt_ppfund.aspx
United Bank of India	http://oldwebsite.unitedbankofindia.com/english/PPF.aspx
Vijaya Bank	http://www.vijayabank.com/Merchant-Banking/Public-Provident-Fund

Apart from PSU banks two private banks also provide the facility to open a PPF account with them.

List of private banks offering PPF account

Bank Name	PPF Form download URL
ICICI Bank	http://www.icicibank.com/Personal-Banking/investments/ppf/ppf-forms.page
Axis Bank	http://www.axisbank.com/download/Form-A-AOF.pdf
HDFC Bank	https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/products/investments/public-provident-fund

PPF in post office

PPF account can be opened in a Post office which is double handed and above.

Indian post office PPF account opening form

http://www.indiapost.gov.in/pdfforms/ppfactopening.pdf

Documents required for opening a PPF account

Account opening form (Form A).
ID Proof (Like PAN card, Driving license, Voter ID, Passport).
Address Proof (Like Telephone bill, Electricity bill, Ration card).

Please check with the bank/post office for the required documents while opening an account.

Nomination for PPF account

The PPF Scheme facilitates nominations of one or more persons to receive the amount standing to the subscriber's credit in case of death. However no nomination(s) is possible in case of minor account.

Points to note -

PPF maturity duration is 15 years.
Pre-mature closure of a PPF account is permissible only in case of death.
Nomination facility is available under PPF.
PPF account can be opened with a deposit of Rs. 100 though in a financial year minimum Rs. 500 has to be deposited.

That's all for this topic Where Can I Open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) Account. If you have any doubt or any suggestions to make please drop a comment. Thanks!

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>>>Go to Fixed Income Options page

Know About Public Provident Fund (PPF)

The Public Provident Fund is savings-cum-tax-saving instrument in India, introduced by the National Savings Institute of the Ministry of Finance in 1968. PPF offers an investment avenue which provides decent risk free returns coupled with income tax benefits under 80C of Income Tax Act.

A person, who is already a subscriber or about to open a PPF account, may have certain queries about the PPF account. I have tried to collate information about different scenarios and put them in a simple question answer format. Hope I'll be able to help people with their queries.

So lets view different scenarios -

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Income tax slabs for FY 2015-16

Income tax rates may change every year and it is important to have an idea about the current income tax rates. In this post we'll see the different tax slabs for the current financial year. Please note that the income tax slabs for the FY (Fiscal Year) 2014-15 and FY 2015-16 i.e. AY (Assessment Year) 2015-16 and AY 2016-17 are the same.

Tax payers may be categorized into 2 categories -

Non-business.
Business.

The non-business categories of income tax payers in India are -

Male Individual residents below 60 years of age and HUF.
Female Individual residents below 60 years of age.
Senior Citizen Individual resident who is of the age of 60 years or more but below the age of 80 years at any time during the previous year.
Super Senior Citizen (Individual resident who is of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year.

The business categories of income tax payers in India are -

Co-operative societies.
Firms.
Domestic Companies.
Foreign companies.

Here we'll discuss only about the non-business categories of income tax payers.

Tax slabs for individual residents aged below 60 years and HUF

For individual resident aged below 60 years and HUF rates of income tax are as-

Income Slabs	Rates of income tax
Taxable income does not exceed Rs. 2,50,000.	Till the income of Rs. 2,50,000 there is no tax so in this case the tax is NIL.
Taxable income is more than Rs. 2,50,000 but does not exceed Rs. 5,00,000.	10% of amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 2,50,000. Less: Tax credit (under u/s 87A) of Rs. 2,000 available only to resident Individuals having total taxable income upto Rs. 5 lakhs.
Taxable income is more than Rs. 5,00,000 but does not exceed Rs. 10,00,000.	Rs. 25,000 + 20% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 5,00,000.
Taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000.	Rs. 125,000 + 30% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000.

Note that for FY (Fiscal Year) 2014-15 and 2015-16 income tax slabs for males and females are same.

Surcharge on income-tax - If taxable income exceeds one crore rupees, surcharge of 10% is levied on the calculated income tax. In the case of surcharge marginal relief is also applicable if the condition for that is satisfied.

Education Cess - There is also 2% education cess and 1% secondary and higher education cess(total 3%) of the total of income tax and net surcharge.

Tax slabs for a resident senior citizen (who is 60 years or more at any time during the previous year but less than 80 years on the last day of the previous year)

For a resident senior citizen (who is 60 years or more at any time during the previous year but less than 80 years on the last day of the previous year) rates of income tax are as-

Income Slabs	Rates of income tax
Where the taxable income does not exceed Rs. 3,00,000.	Till the income of Rs. 3,00,000 there is no tax so in this case the tax is NIL.
Taxable income is more than Rs. 3,00,000 but does not exceed Rs. 5,00,000.	10% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 3,00,000. Less: Tax credit (under u/s 87A) of Rs. 2,000 available only to resident Individuals having total taxable income upto Rs. 5 lakhs.
Taxable income is more than Rs. 5,00,000 but does not exceed Rs. 10,00,000.	Rs. 20,000 + 20% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 5,00,000.
Taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000.	Rs. 120,000 + 30% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000.

Education Cess - There is also 2% education cess and 1% secondary and higher education cess(total 3%) of the total of income tax and net surcharge.

Tax slabs for a resident super senior citizen (who is 80 years or more at any time during the previous year)

For a resident super senior citizen (who is 80 years or more at any time during the previous year) rates of income tax are as-

Income Slabs	Rates of income tax
Where the taxable income does not exceed Rs. 5,00,000.	Till the income of Rs. 5,00,000 there is no tax so in this case the tax is NIL.
Taxable income is more than Rs. 5,00,000 but does not exceed Rs. 5,00,000.	20% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 5,00,000.
Taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000.	Rs. 100,000+ 30% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000

Education Cess - There is also 2% education cess and 1% secondary and higher education cess(total 3%) of the total of income tax and net surcharge.

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